“JSW Steel Limited – 1Q FY2018 Results …...“JSW Steel Limited – 1Q FY2018 Results...

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“JSW Steel Limited – 1Q FY2018 Results Conference Call” August 01, 2017, 5.30pm, Indian Standard Time

Speakers: Seshagiri Rao MVS, Jt. Managing Director & Group CFO

Dr. Vinod Nowal, Dy. Managing Director

Jayant Acharya, Director – Commercial & Marketing

Rajeev Pai, Chief Financial Officer

Call host: Goutam Chakraborty – Emkay Global Financial Services

Moderator: Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the 1QFY18 Results Conference Call

of JSW Steel Limited hosted by Emkay Global Financial Services. As a reminder, all

participant lines will be in the listen only mode and there will be an opportunity for

you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. If you need assistance during

the conference call, please signal an operator by pressing ‘*’ followed by ‘0’ on your

touchtone phone. Please note, that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the

conference over to Mr. Goutam Chakraborty from Emkay Global Financial Services.

Thank you and over to you.

Dhruv Muchhal: Thanks Lizann. Hello, everyone. On behalf of Emkay Global, I welcome you all to

today's discussion. We thank the JSW Steel Management for giving us the

opportunity to host this call. We have with us the senior management of JSW Steel.

And now I would like to hand over the floor to Mr. Pritesh Vinay - VP Capital Markets

and Group Investor Relations to take you further. Over to you, Pritesh!

Pritesh Vinay: Thank you Goutam. A very good evening to all the participants. I welcome all of you

on JSW Steel's first quarter fiscal 2018 earnings call. We have with us today the

senior management team represented by Mr. Seshagiri Rao, the Joint Managing

Director and Group CFO; Dr. Vinod Nowal, the Deputy MD; Mr. Jayant Acharya,

Director, Commercial & Marketing; and Mr. Rajeev Pai, the CFO.

So you are all familiar with the format. We will start with a few minutes of opening

remarks by Mr. Rao and then we will open the floor for Q&A. I would request all the

participants to restrict your questions to two per participant in order to give

everybody a fair opportunity. So with that, I'll hand the floor over to Mr. Rao for his

opening comments

Seshagiri Rao: Good evening to all of you. I am happy to share with you the performance of JSW

Steel for the first quarter of the fiscal year 2018. As you all are aware, global steel

production has been going up. In the first half of the year, we have seen a 4.5%

growth. Even China, when everybody anticipated that its steel production as well as

demand will be flat in CY17, has recorded highest ever steel production in the month

of June 2017 at 73 odd million tonnes. Overall China has also seen a production

“JSW Steel Limited – 1Q FY2018 Results Conference Call”

August 01, 2017, 5.30pm, Indian Standard Time

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growth of 4.6% in the first half. So with more production, global steel capacity

utilization gradually increased to 73% in the month of June from as low as 67.6% in

the month of December. So with this more production, in spite of moderate exports

from these four countries, Russia, China, Japan and Korea, we have seen the price

correction of steel in the international market, particularly HR coil we have seen in

this quarter, a 13% reduction. In line with the correction in the global steel prices,

particularly of the hot roll coils, the iron ore and coal prices also corrected.

As regards to India, crude steel production went up by 3.5%, consumption grew by

4.6%; which is better than last financial year. Imports more or less are stable at

around 5.5 lakh tonnes to 6 lakh tonnes whereas Indian steel prices also got

corrected in the last quarter, in line with the international prices.

In addition to these factors, one more important development in India is water

shortage. Water shortage in the south, particularly in the Tamilnadu, had impacted

production to some extent at our facilities. In addition to that, when we wanted to

sell our products, sales was impacted by introduction of GST from 1st of July. Even

though there were some uncertainties in the month of May, once it was becoming

clearer that it would be implemented from 1st of July, the sales were impacted with

destocking in June.

In view of these factors, we could achieve a production of 3.9 million tonnes, year-

on-year a 1% growth which is slightly lower than our guidance. The sales were at 3.5

million tonnes, which is a growth of 5% year-on-year. Then as regards to sales

realizations in this quarter, in line with international prices drop, we also adjusted the

hot roll coil prices. But if I look at the blended sales realizations, they are more or less

at the same level on sequential basis. However, we are able to maintain this by

increasing our value added products sales to a large extent, because prices of those

products have not fallen, they were more stable or had an upward bias in the last

quarter. So our value added products sales went up from 35% to 38%. So this had

helped to maintain blended sales realizations almost at the same level on sequential

basis.

The cost of production was under pressures. Iron ore prices in India have not got

adjusted unfortunately in the last quarter despite 25% drop in international iron ore

prices in the last quarter. NMDC adjusted the price only from 1st July by Rs. 200 per

tonne. So cost of production was under pressure due to higher iron ore prices. We

also had to consume the coking coal opening inventory which was expensive. Later

on, coking coal prices started coming down. So some benefit has come to us

sequentially over the last quarter, but the last didn’t have full benefit of lower coking

coal prices. So overall cost of production was at a higher level. So this has put the

pressure on the EBITDA per tonne for standalone company which came at Rs. 6,266

per tonne. So EBITDA margin for the quarter was at 14.7%. The total standalone was



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recorded at Rs 15,096 crores. EBITDA for standalone company was Rs 2,197 crores

and the profit after tax was Rs 418 crores.

As regards to our subsidiaries, USA Plate & Pipe Mill has done well. The plate capacity

utilization went up to 28% and the EBITDA for the quarter was positive at $5 million

as against EBITDA loss of $5 million in the corresponding quarter of last year. So

there was a swing of almost $10 million in our US operation in this quarter. JSW

Coated Products has done extremely well. So it has shown an EBITDA of Rs 205

crores, a 30% growth. During the quarter, value-added steel products went up to

38% in the quarter – CRCA, Galvanised, colour coated, electrical steel all products

registered significant growth. Amba River, Salav unit, steel processing centre,

industrial gases, Vallabh Tinplate, Marubeni-Itochu joint venture, everywhere there

was an improvement in the EBITDA. So, consolidated EBITDA was Rs 2,617 crores and

the net profit after tax was Rs 624 crores for the consolidated company. The net debt

was Rs 43,323 crores at Jun 2017 end with an increase of Rs 1,774 crores during the

quarter – majorly used for incremental working capital required during the quarter.

We are seeing is that steel demand is definitely improving, not only globally, but also

in India. What is comforting is that Chinese apparent steel consumption on a

derivative basis if you see, in the first six months of the year, has increased by almost

close to 9%-10%, which nobody was anticipating. On the top of this, their exports

have come down by 28%. So taking that into account, global steel demand outlook is

looking better. As far as India is concerned, with increasing public sector spending,

we are seeing a traction in the demand from the sectors like roads, power and

transmission lines, solar energy, earthquake equipment, pre-engineering buildings,

water pipeline, gas pipeline. So, we feel that steel demand will accelerate going

forward. So whatever loss of sales we have seen in the 1Q, we are confident that we

will be able to make it up in the following three quarters and achieve our guidance of

16.5 million tonnes of production and 15.5 million tonnes of sales for the year.

As regards to GST, we have calculated our benefit of GST and we have passed it on as

on 1st of July 2017 while announcing the prices. We are seeing that GST is getting

stabilized. We feel that the normalcy will come back in this quarter.

All the announced capex projects are on track. So we are implementing the

downstream in our Kalmeshwar, Vasind and Tarapur and also expanding our CRM

units at Vasind and Vijayanagar. The expansion at Dolvi from 5 to 10 is also on track.

So, with this I open the floor for Q&A, thank you.

Moderator: Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the question-and-answer

session. We will take the first question from the line of Ruchit Mehta from SBI

Mutual Fund. Please go ahead.



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Ruchit Mehta: I was wondering if you could comment a little bit about the coking coal pricing

environment. If I am not mistaken, we have not yet heard anything that is happening

on the quarter two contract settlements as well. So if you could give us some colour

on that and where do you think coal prices could settle for the balance of the year?

Jayant Acharya: Yes. So the coal prices, coking coal prices specifically have been volatile. In the month

of April, we had seen a spike in coking coal prices from Australia, primarily because of

the floods and it had gone up to $300 FOB and dropped down to about $146 odd in

June. We have seen the coking coal prices move up again somewhat in this month,

but we feel that it's going to be range-bound, probably in the range seen in June and

July. As we had discussed earlier, most of our prices are index-linked, so it is not on

the quarterly settlement basis. So it will move with the index on a monthly basis.

Seshagiri Rao: Regarding the Q2, I just want to add that there will be a reduction in the coking coal

prices on consumption basis in JSW Steel. We expect that the reduction would be in

the range of around $15 per tonne.

Ruchit Mehta: Okay, fair. And just in terms of your expectations for iron ore per se, because I mean,

as you alluded to your comments that NMDC was late in cutting prices, but now you

have global price rally that has happened again. So do you expect your prices for the

subsequent months to go up again or do you think that they could be stable?

Seshagiri Rao: Overall supply of Iron ore in India is increasing, particularly in Odisha. So Odisha iron

ore prices are at significantly lower prices compared to Chhattisgarh and also

Karnataka. Whereas as far as our Vijayanagar plant is concerned, this Rs. 200/t

benefit has started flowing in from 1st of July. However, iron ore supply increase in

Karnataka is very essential for drop in iron ore prices in Karnataka. Today, the total

iron ore production that can be made in Karnataka is 30 million tonnes as per

Supreme Court directive, whereas they are producing close to 27-27.5 million tonnes.

Even though the approvals that have been given for mining is 33 million tonnes, so

balance is not coming from the mining companies in spite of the approval. Therefore,

new mines permission has to be given along with an increase in ceiling beyond 30

MTPA to improve iron ore supply. So the mining companies plus Karnataka Iron &

Steel Association approached the Supreme Court to increase the ceiling beyond 30

MTPA. So that case is getting heard in the Supreme Court. So we expect some relief

as regards to remove the ceiling or increase the ceiling. So once that happens, we

expect the supplies to go up. That should bring the normalcy in the iron ore prices in

the Karnataka State, but we don't expect the prices to go up from the current level.

Moderator: Thank you. The next question is from the line of Bhavin Chheda from Enam Holdings.

Please go ahead.



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Bhavin Chheda: Sir, what would be the update on the VAT credit in Maharashtra, if any clarifications

post to GST?

Seshagiri Rao: VAT credit on non-GST items?

Bhavin Chheda: No sir. In the Maharashtra plant for the sales in Maharashtra, we used to get the VAT

exemption or VAT credit, how is the scenario post the GST?

Seshagiri Rao: As far as the approval is concerned, it says that in the post GST scenario, they will

protect the state taxes, state taxes in the sense, to the extent of state taxes. So now

as the SGST is at 9%, they have to take a decision how much they will do. Is it 5% or is

it 9%? So a lot of representations have gone from the industry, the GST council is not

taking a call on that, they have left it to the states to do it. So industry has been

pursuing with the state governments to take a call on this, including Karnataka.

Bhavin Chheda: But Karnataka, we don't have any earlier VAT credit, so Karnataka is not an issue,

right?

Seshagiri Rao: There is a benefit on expansion from 10 million tonnes to 12 million tonnes in

Karnataka.

Bhavin Chheda: Okay. So as of now, you are collecting SGST and submitting the same to the state

government, right? So the claim would come at the later stage when the state

government clarifies?

Seshagiri Rao: We will submit our refund claim as per the approvals that have been given to us. So

as per that, we are entitled for SGST. If we get it, it is fine; otherwise we continue to

pursue the government. I think at least 5%, whatever we used to get, will not be

questioned.

Bhavin Chheda: Okay. And one last question on the difference. This huge incremental number from

the other subsidiaries, how much of it will be sustainable in coming quarter, because

the difference, if I exclude Jindal quoted and if I exclude the US number, there was an

incremental 160, 170 crores EBITDA, which I think you said from Amba River Salal

processing units, Vallabh Steel and all that. How much we should built in on a

sustainable basis for the coming quarters?

Seshagiri Rao: For the coming quarters, whatever numbers are there, I think we can look at same

numbers to continue in future.

Bhavin Chheda: Okay. So there was no one-off in any of the numbers?

Seshagiri Rao: No, I don't think so.



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Moderator: Thank you. The next question is from the line of Nitesh Jain from Axis Capital. Please

go ahead.

Nitesh Jain: Sir, can you provide some commentary on the steel price movement in India. So we

gather that in July last week, the steel prices have gone up and then in August local

mills are again planning for some hikes. So if you can quantify like the post June,

what is the pricing action in July and what is like the, how ours look like?

Jayant Acharya: Yes, so in the month of July, after our correction, we have passed on the GST benefits

on a net basis. And we had increased prices marginally in the beginning of or rather

around the 7th of July. But the main increase is going to be from 1st of August. As you

are aware, the international prices, specifically have moved up if you look from June-

end to now by almost $50/t. So there is a case for increasing the prices. So we are

going to increase the prices, let us say between August and September. I will not be

able to share exact amount with you right now; we are still working that out.

Nitesh Jain: Sure. No problem. And for July, at least you can share like from the June average, is it

like Rs. 500 or Rs. 1,000 higher, at least for July. I know that August looks difficult to

comment at this moment, but for July you can mention the quantum, please?

Jayant Acharya: Yes, but month-to-month, if I give it to you, it will be a little misleading. So I think it

will be better to take a concerted quarter view. But directionally, as we said it is

going up. So between let us say, July, August and September, you will see a price

increase, reflecting what is happening internationally.

Moderator: Thank you. The next question is from the line of Pinakin Parekh from JPMorgan.

Please go ahead.

Pinakin Parekh: Sir two questions. First, we have maintained our sales volume guidance and if we

look at, Q1 was impacted by GST and the water shortage. So it implies a material pick

up over the next three quarters. Broadly from a mix perspective sir, should we see an

increase in exports over year or you believe that, as you highlighted that demand is

improving, the higher volumes can be absorbed within the domestic markets. So I am

just trying to understand that should the margins expand materially depending on

where do we sell, do we sell locally or do we sell more in the export market?

Jayant Acharya: No, I think, as you know, we have been quite flexible in terms of our shift between

the domestic and the export market. Our quarter one export percentage has been

about 23%. The domestic markets are picking up, so therefore we would try to focus

on the domestic market and maintain exports around this percentage level of sales.

Pinakin Parekh: Sure. And sir second question is that, the annual report mentions that, of the 5

mines, one in the category C auction, 2 mines would be operational by first half of



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FY18 and the remaining three over the remainder of FY18. So does the ramp-up of

the mine have anything to do with the Supreme Court guidelines of 30 million tonnes

production or the 30 million tonnes cap or would JSW mine ramp-up be independent

out of that cap?

Vinod Nowal: CEC has given recommendations to over and above the 30 MTPA. So once Supreme

Court accepts the recommendations of the CEC, then it will come extra.

Pinakin Parekh: Okay. So to that extent, we'll have to wait for the Supreme Court recommendation in

order to basically ramp this mines up?

Vinod Nowal: Yes.

Pinakin Parekh: And sir secondly, the annual report mentioned the certain number of 4.7 million

tonnes of this 5 mines, is this the limit imposed by the mining plan or I mean other

than the Supreme Court limit, is there any restraint on this number or if the company

is able to, it can ramp up the production more than this number, assuming the courts

were to allow it?

Seshagiri Rao: 4.7 MTPA is as per the formula set by the Supreme Court earlier. So this is the

maximum, unless until it is relaxed in future.

Pinakin Parekh: Okay. So then it will reset and then we have to look at it what we can do?

Seshagiri Rao: Yes.

Moderator: Thank you. We'll take the next question from the line of Ashish Kejriwal from IDFC

Securities. Please go ahead.

Ashish Kejriwal: Sir, if I'm looking at your JSW Steel Coated numbers and your top line and volumes,

which you have given, it seems that your net realization has increased quarter-on-

quarter. So, first of all, is that right? And if it is right, then why everything is not

coming down to EBITDA, because your HRC prices were lower quarter-on-quarter

and there seems to be a net realization for JSW Steel Coated seems to be on a higher

side. Or am I missing something in this?

Jayant Acharya: Yes, the sales realizations at JSW Coated Products have gone up between 4Q to 1Q as

well as on YoY basis.

Ashish Kejriwal: So I am seeing that the prices have increased by around 1,600 something, but our

EBITDA has just increased by Rs. 600 per tonne despite the fact that HRC prices

should be lower quarter-on-quarter again.



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Jayant Acharya: Yes, it's point-to-point, it may be little difficult, because it's a question of mix of what

orders you are carrying at that point of time between export and contracted orders

and retail orders. So that mix could change it a bit, but generally it has gone up on

quarter-on-quarter basis.

Ashish Kejriwal: Okay. And is it possible to give broad numbers for major subsidiaries' EBITDA like we

have given for JSW coated and US operation, is it possible to give for your Amba River

and JSW Steel Salal? Any sharp jump up in any of the subsidiaries, because the

change which we are looking at from comfort to standalone and JSW Steel Coated

and US operations that is not explaining the entire momentum.

Seshagiri Rao: We have already given JSW Coated Products numbers, which is the material in this Rs

450 crores of incremental EBITDA coming in the consolidated numbers.

Ashish Kejriwal: 44 crores?

Seshagiri Rao: 205 crores. 205 crores is from JSW Coated Products.

Ashish Kejriwal: I am looking at the difference from first to fourth quarter?

Seshagiri Rao: Yes, those numbers we will be able to give annually, not every quarter.

Ashish Kejriwal: But is it safe to say that we have seen some jump-up in any of the subsidiaries

besides US and JSW Coated?

Seshagiri Rao: Yes, definitely, there is an improvement across the subsidiaries. There is an

improvement in Severfield JV. Similarly, there is an improvement at Vallabh Tinplate,

Steel Processing Centres, Industrial Gases and even at the new acquisition, which we

have made from Praxair and is renamed as JSW Industrial Gases.

Ashish Kejriwal: And we think that we are going to maintain that in next quarter also.

Seshagiri Rao: Right.

Ashish Kejriwal: And sir lastly, when we are looking at the volumes, we are seeing that domestic sales

volume has in fact increased quarter-on-quarter, while export sales volume has

declined sharply. So is it mainly because the spot realization or the export was less

profitable in last quarter as compared to fourth quarter?

Jayant Acharya: Yes, you're correct. So the prices from February-March to April-May had corrected,

as you would have seen internationally as well. So therefore we tactically shifted into

the domestic market in these volumes and reduced our export to that extent. In

exports, we have focused more on the value-added part like cold rolled, galvanised,

colour coated and galvalume etc.



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Moderator: Thank you. We will take the next question from the line of Dhawal Doshi from

PhillipCapital. Please go ahead.

Dhawal Doshi: Sir two questions. First, sir, is there any element of a Forex gain or something or a

translation gain for this quarter as in which would have boosted the consolidated

performance, which is…

Seshagiri Rao: There is no Forex gain which has come exceptionally in this quarter.

Dhawal Doshi: Secondly sir, if I were to look at the standalone company realizations on a gross basis

from Q4 to Q1, the realizations have moved up by almost Rs. 460 odd. You did

mention in your opening remarks, saying that the coated product realizations were

quite strong, but that will get reflected in the subsidiary performance. Even in the

standalone company we have seen a sequential increase, how did that happen? Is

the product mix also coming into play out over there, because what we understand

was prices were quite soft in Q1?

Seshagiri Rao: JSW Steel standalone also has Value added products, we have galvanizing and cold

rolling at Vijayanagar unit. we have a big presence in Cold rolling as a part of the

standalone company. So those prices acted as a buffer for the fall in HR coil and long

products.

Dhawal Doshi: Okay. And sir, lastly, what was the benefit of the coal price decline in Q1?

Seshagiri Rao: Q1, $18 per tonne.

Moderator: Thank you. The next question is from the line of Rajesh Lachhani from HSBC. Please

go ahead.

Rajesh Lachhani: Sir, my question is on the weakness in the HRC prices while long products have

remained largely stable. So are we looking at some better demand scenario for the

long products than flat products? So that is my first question.

Jayant Acharya: The hot rolled prices basically reflect faster any change in the international scenario.

So therefore the international correction in prices between Q4 to Q1 translated itself

faster in the domestic market as well. As far as longs is concerned, it is more

domestic driven and I think primarily, as you know, April-May-June is a season just

before monsoon, where constructions are completed. So long product tends to be

more stable and positive during that period of time. And during the monsoon period,

the long products stabilizes a little downwards. But this time, because of

international movement on steel which primarily started with increased upward

pressure on long products in China because of a structural correction in production of

induction furnaces in China. The long products started moving up first and it was



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followed by flat products. So I think in this quarter, we are seeing a positive upside

both on the longs and flats, more so in flats than in longs, because it had fallen earlier

as I explained.

Rajesh Lachhani: Okay. And my second question sir is on the sound bites we are getting on the

acquisition of the distressed assets from JSTL. Sir, you are already on track of your

expansion projects. So I'm just trying to understand what happens if we are front

runner in one of those acquisitions. So what happens to that expansion projects?

Seshagiri Rao: Expansion project, we have already announced and we are committed and we have

started implementing, so that will continue. At the same time, if any value accretive

acquisition opportunities arise, we will take a call on that at the opportune time. As

regards to the mode of acquisition and method of financing, we will work out the

acquisition strategy within the parameters of debt to EBITDA, debt to equity without

straining the cash flow of JSW Steel.

Rajesh Lachhani: Okay. So, sir, I understand that the expansion project is the priority compared to

acquisitions?

Seshagiri Rao: Priority! it is not changeable. We have already decided to go ahead with the

expansion projects. We have already committed and we have started implementing

the projects. Therefore, it's not the question of priority. We will continue and will

complete the projects

Moderator: Thank you. The next question is from the line of Pavitra. S from Nomura Securities.

Please go ahead.

Pavitra S.: So my first question is on the CAPEX that you have spent this quarter. If you can tell

us how much was spent this quarter and also what is the guidance for the full-year?

Seshagiri Rao: Our guidance for the full-year is Rs 8,000 crores. Out of the Rs 8,000 crores, the

CAPEX was Rs 1,325 crores on incurred basis, it was close to Rs 1,000 crores on cash

flow basis.

Pavitra S.: Okay, got it. And with regard to this, you mentioned that the increase in net debt was

on account of working capital. So if you can mention how much was the working

capital outflow and do you expect to see any wind-down of that over the next few

quarters?

Jayant Acharya: We built-up some inventory on account of, let us say finished products and some on

account of GST. We had drawn-down some inventory in the March quarter, which we

needed to build up for our working purposes. In addition to that, due to GST

postponement of purchases especially in the month of June, there is some inventory,



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which has been built up. We expect that part of this inventory will be liquidated in

this quarter.

Pavitra S.: Okay, sure. And finally, just one more question on the net debt to EBITDA and the net

debt to equity. It just seems to be trending slightly above the threshold levels that

you had previously mentioned of 3.75 times and 1.75 times. So just wanted to

understand what steps will you take to bring these metrics back down to threshold

levels?

Seshagiri Rao: We are confident that we will be able to achieve production and sales guidance given

for this year. Accordingly, we have guided these ratios. So by end of this financial

year, we will be within the guided range.

Moderator: Thank you. The next question is from the line of Ritesh Shah from Investec. Please go

ahead.

Ritesh Shah: Sir my first question is, if you could provide some color on the Moitra coking coal

block and the economics of the leases that we have won in Karnataka?

Seshagiri Rao: As far as Moitra coal mine is concerned, we have to make it operational by June

2019. It has permission to mine one million tonne per annum. But if we look at strip

ratio, it is around 3 to 3.5 times. So, the actual available coking coal or say usable

coking coal per annum quantity will be in the range of 200,000 tonnes to 300,000

tonnes. So, this is not a big quantity.

As regards to the 5 iron ore concessions which we secured in the auctions in

Karnataka, the weighted average of the premium payable to the government will be

around 90% of the market price. The remaining 10% will beequal to the cost of

mining. Therefore, compared to the market price, there will not be any reduction in

the overall price. But at the same time, there will be a huge advantage in

transportation. We will be able to do better arrangements for transportation either

by piped conveyor or through a dedicated rail system. We will be able to reduce the

transportation cost. So that is where I think the savings would come. Apart from this,

the premium which we are paying over the market price today would also disappear.

The premium is almost close to Rs. 600 per tonne over Chhattisgarh prices. That

premium will not be there in this price, in the captive mines.

Ritesh Shah: All right. Sir, when you say 90%, is it the IBM, 90% premium to the IBM notified price.

How should one look at it?

Seshagiri Rao: Generally, IBM takes an average of the prices declared by various mining companies

for their sales in that state for various grades. So based on that, they declare the

price.



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Ritesh Shah: Okay. I'm assuming it would also include NMDC?

Seshagiri Rao: Yes, it includes NMDC.

Ritesh Shah: Okay. Great. Sir, my second question is on Slide #9. The volume that you have given

over there are 3.39 on the bar chart. So I just wanted to understand how to reconcile

it?

Jayant Acharya: So you're talking about the quarter one consolidated numbers?

Ritesh Shah: Yes, sir.

Jayant Acharya: As you know that we have started a conversion arrangement with Uttam, where we

are supplying hot rolled coils from Dolvi and we are getting that converted into

coated poducts and selling that in the market. So there is some stock build-up in the

WIP as far as that unit is concerned and there is some stock build-up on account of

GST.

Ritesh Shah: Okay, that helps. And sir my last question is, what are the cost saving parameters

that we should look at a company level say over next 18 months to 24 months either

from change in product mix or anything specific that we are doing?

Jayant Acharya: The change in product mix, I think our focus now is to see that all our value accretive

assets we run to the full. So our cold rolling lines, our electrical steel lines, our

galvanizing lines in Vijayanagar are all now running at more or less 100% capacity. In

the galvanizing space at Vijayanagar, which is actually the galvanneal linethe

production of automotive steels have gone up, and that is slowly likely to increase as

we go along. In the space of cold rolled and CRCA also, various value-added products

are now getting produced at Vijayanagar. Similarly, in the JSW Coated Products’

facilities at Vasind, Tarapur and Kalmeshwar, all the lines are being run full. Our

efforts are to see that we increase our production of galvalume and colour coated

with galvalume substrate, since this is more cost efficient and as well as has higher

yield in terms of price.

Ritesh Shah: Sir, my question was from the cost side. Are there any different moves that we are

taking besides the brown field and green field expansion that we are doing. And is

anything like a change in mix less of blast furnace, more of electric arc, anything from

that angle like Mr. Rao indicated about a conveyor belt. I'm more asking from a

bottom up angle.

Seshagiri Rao: Yes. Definitely. One is on digital side. Last time I touched upon that we have

identified total 40 projects along with BCG, which has the potential to give Rs 430

crores cost reduction. Out of that, projects likely to give savings of Rs 30 crores are



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under implementation right now. So these projects will be implemented in the next

18 months. We will identify more and more projects under this initiative. So under

this initiative, we are moving towards automation of operations, building algorithms

and also digitalizing processes to reduce the cost.

Similarly, the other area where we would like to focus is the logistics which is again

giving us lot of advantage in terms cost reduction. The 2 focus areas on the logistics

side are Idle freight and turnaround time.

Then the piped conveyor which is already under implementation with total project of

Rs 650 crores, it will get completed in the next 18 months. With this, we are

expecting a significant reduction in our transportation cost of iron ore to Vijayanagar

plant. Then, we have also announced the slurry pipeline, we are doing feasibility

study to set-up it from the coastal Karnataka to Vijayanagar plant. So that will open-

up opportunity for us in case iron ore situation continues to be in the similar manner

as we are today. If not immediately in the next 12 months to 18 months’ time, we

will be able to have more alternatives to increase the supply of iron ore to our

Vijayanagar plant from outside Karnataka at a very competitive cost. So there are

various steps, which we are looking at on the cost reduction side.

Moderator: Thank you. The next question is from the line of Saumil Mehta from BNP Paribas

Mutual Fund. Please go ahead.

Saumil Mehta: Sir my question is with respect to any inorganic acquisition. Now does it fit into our

long-term strategy or are they in terms of financial covenant, should we believe that,

that will also be in the 3.75x net debt to EBITDA after any sort of financial

arrangements, which we have or we have the flexibility to increase that with banks

and probably that will taper down over a period of time?

Seshagiri Rao: No. Our effort or our objective or the target is not to breach these covenants

including acquisition. So if any acquisition opportunity comes in, we would structure

financing in a manner that it does not put undue pressure on JSW Steel’s cash flows

and the covenants. That's how we are looking at it. So, you are right, we want to

maintain this ratio including acquisitions.

Saumil Mehta: Okay. And sir, is it fair to assume that any form of inorganic acquisition will all be in

the domestic market, because there were certain news items of we looking at some

assets out of India or is that the backburner and first priority would be to look any

lucrative inorganic only in India and then probably venture out of India?

Seshagiri Rao: No. We don't rule out overseas inorganic growth opportunities if they come up,

particularly in the downstream side. After having seen the trade restrictions that

have been imposed by various countries, there is an imminent need for the company



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to look for manufacturing facilities in the overseas market. Therefore, we continue to

look overseas also, as a part of inorganic growth, notwithstanding the opportunities

in India.

Saumil Mehta: Sure. And my last question is, with respect to any form of, in terms of a long-term

strategy of being integrated in the iron ore part now, number of iron ore options are

going to come up in the state of Odisha. Do we believe that, based on your

transportation cost and all that it will be feasible to have any acquisitions outside

state of Karnataka?

Seshagiri Rao: Iron ore side, we feel that we have more opportunities in India, because a lot of

mines are coming up for auction and more will come in after 31st March 2020 when

the existing mining leases expire. So we look more for iron ore mine acquisitions in

the auctions in India.

Saumil Mehta: I was just referring to between state of Karnataka and any form of acquisition outside

of Karnataka?

Seshagiri Rao: Now for Vijayanagar plant, we will definitely look at iron ore mines outside Karnataka

also as we are working on slurry pipeline from coastal Karnataka to Vijayanagar plant.

So it doesn't make difference whether we own iron ore mine in Karnataka or Odisha.

Moderator: Thank you. The next question is from the line of Pratik Singh from Credit Suisse.

Please go ahead.

Pratik Singh: I want to know the level of revenue and capital acceptances this quarter.

Seshagiri Rao: Revenue capital acceptances are at $1,265 million. CAPEX acceptances are at $219

million.

Pratik Singh: And my second question, where exactly are we on Dolvi expansion, the Vijayanagar

BF-3 or the CRM, because I believe we should be in very early stages here, so could it

also lead to some production disruption later the year?

Seshagiri Rao: I don't expect any disruption to the existing production at Dolvi works due to

expansion from 5 to 10 because it is a separate unit altogether, of course adjacent to

the existing facilities. So Dolvi works expansion to 10 million is not going to disrupt

the existing production. At Vijayanagar, as far as the CRM is concerned, there will be

some shutdowns for the expansion from 0.9 million to 1.8 million but not in this year.

So as of now, we are preparing all the equipments and we will be completing

whatever work that has to be done on civil works side. Next year we will take the call

on the required shutdown.



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Moderator: Thank you. The next question is from the line of Sudhir Dedia from Mirae Assets.

Please go ahead.

Sudhir Dedia: Good evening sir. My question is more related with GST. Are we seeing any benefits

due to GST in terms of operational and in terms of taxes as well?

Seshagiri Rao: GST is a very transformational tax reform, there are some financial positives and

negatives of it. On the positive side, we will be saving CST which we used to pay on

interstate purchases. Similarly, on the interstate sales where customers were bearing

the 2% CST, that will also not be there. Similarly, in case of branch transfers, earlier

we used to reverse the input credit, this is not required in the GST scenario and will

have lot of positive impact. On Negative side, if I really look at it, there is some

confusion going on the non-GST items like natural gas. So earlier it was procured

both outside the state and within the state. Outside the state, we used to pay CST

and entry tax and within the state we used to pay the VAT. The VAT used to be 13%

and we used to get 9.5% as the set-off. Now post GST, natural gas is not covered

under the GST. So the suppliers continue to charge the VAT, but there is no provision

for set-off. So that we have represented to the government, we are yet to hear from

them.

Sudhir Dedia: If you can quantify both the elements in terms of benefit and this natural gas issue.

Seshagiri Rao: Yes. It depends upon how much gas we procure from each of the states. So

quantification we have to work out, but the point remains it is one negative overall.

But even after netting out the benefits with whatever negatives that are there, GST

give a net reduction on overall basis. That is what is passed on to the customer.

Sudhir Dedia: Okay. So when you say when that is passed on to the customer, to the extent where

there is an operational efficiency and to the extent of CST savings, that can be

retained by the company, right?

Seshagiri Rao: Retained by the company?

Sudhir Dedia: Because the pricing mechanism on the sales side is very transparent and

internationally linked, right?

Seshagiri Rao: No, the spirit of GST is, whatever benefit the company gets, we have to pass it on.

Accordingly, this benefit has been worked out separately both positives and

negatives. So we worked out, it is in the range of Rs. 500 to Rs. 700 per tonne, we

passed it on.

Sudhir Dedia: Okay. And sir, if one has to understand in terms of operational efficiency, in this what

we have spoken is more on the financial side. In terms of operational let us say in



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terms of spread, there are various newspaper articles which says that there is a huge

saving on the spread side in terms of time reduction. Do we get benefit out of that?

Seshagiri Rao: We will definitely get that benefit. But for that, we have to talk to the transporters

and start negotiating all the contracts. We have started doing that, so it will take

time. As of now, it is difficult to quantify that how much benefit will come. As a part

of digitization, we are also putting GPS tracking in place for all the outward freight

trucks. This will enable us to track the turnaround time taken by them. This will help

us to negotiate better with the transporters. So that is what we are trying to do. But

at this stage, it is difficult to quantify that, but the benefit would definitely come.

Sudhir Dedia: But if we have to, get us some rough guess, in terms of what can be the range of this

benefit on a per tonne basis, if impossible at this point of time?

Seshagiri Rao: No, not possible.

Moderator: Thank you. Next question is from the line of Sumangal Nevatia from Macquarie.

Please go ahead.

Sumangal Nevatia: Just one question remains. I know it is a small contributor, but if you could just

elaborate on a turnaround in the US business, the $5 million EBITDA, I think last was

witnessed in 2012 when I see volumes also increasing. So, how sustainable is this

turnaround and what levels of utilization can we achieve and what further

improvements in earnings could we see here? Thanks.

Seshagiri Rao: The utilization of the Plate Mill in the last quarter was 28% and the Pipe Mill

remained at around 8%. So with that capacity utilization, we were at $5 million

EBITDA in the last quarter. So there is a huge scope for improving the capacity

utilization further. After having seen the kind of trade remedial actions taken by the

US for a longer period of 5 years and they are also talking about section 232 related

investigations and its outcome. So the outlook for the steel industry in the US is

looking bright. So there is potential to increase the capacity utilization and to

improve upon this EBITDA.

Sumangal Nevatia: Understood. Any specific measures, which has led to this or it's just operational

leverage benefit this quarter?

Seshagiri Rao: The order book is improving, that is one. Number two is, in order to improve the

operation, we are also contemplating to improve the capability of the Plate Mill,

thereby the yields will improve substantially and will reduce the cost in future. So

with that, I think there will be large potential in the US to turnaround.



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Moderator: Thank you. The next question is from the line of Abhijeet Mitra from ICICI Securities.

Please go ahead.

Abhijeet Mitra: Question is to Mr. Rao. So regarding this domestic inorganic opportunities, I think last

quarter you made a statement that there is quite a divergence of evaluation opinions

amongst related parties regarding these assets. Over the last 2 months, do you see

any change to that opinion of the last call or do you feel that similar things exist? And

secondly, has the due-diligence process started as in, has the books of accounts being

opened to the interested suitors or that process is yet to start and when do you feel

the process will start according to you, if you can just throw some light on the same.

Thanks.

Seshagiri Rao: No, as you know, the 180 days’ time start ticking from the time it is admitted in the

NCLT. So some of the companies already got admitted, some are yet to be done.

Therefore 180 days is the outer limit plus 90 days that is the limit by which it would

be done. Whatever information we are getting from various sources is that the IRPs,

wherever they are appointed, will take 60 days’ time to prepare information

memorandum and also complete valuation for liquidation value for these companies

and then call for expression of interest. After that only, data or information will be

available to prospective investors.

Abhijeet Mitra: Okay. And between the choice, I know it's a hypothetical question, but between the

choice of assets, I mean, since majority of the expansion which you announced is on

the flat products side, I mean, will the product profile dominate your optionality or

will it be the -- purely be the cost or a combination of these two, I mean, is it fair to

assume that you would be more interested towards the long product assets if you

choose to look at it, I mean is that the right way to look at it or…?

Seshagiri Rao: As a strategy, we would like to focus more on the flat products going forward. So

when we are looking at acquisitions or our organic growth, we will focus a significant

portion in the flat and limited presence in the long.

Abhijeet Mitra: And the same applies to the inorganic side also I would presume.

Seshagiri Rao: Yes.

Moderator: Thank you. The next question is from the line of Pallav Agarwal from Antique. Please

go ahead.

Pallav Agarwal: Just a question on the hedging. So in the annual report, we could see some contracts

on the iron ore and coking coal. So what exactly is the strategy on the hedging part?

Do we hedge in the international markets and is there a policy of how much you

want to hedge our iron ore requirements?



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Seshagiri Rao: Iron ore as you know that we can only hedge only to the extent of imports of iron

ore. We import only for Dolvi unit, not for Vijayanagar unless exceptional

circumstances arise. So we anticipate what could be the imports for our Dolvi unit, to

that extent, we try to hedge as regards to iron ore. So therefore, when our

requirement is total 30 million tonnes, maybe 4 million tonnes to 5 million tonnes is

the extent of hedging, which we always look to. Then as regards to coking coal,

against our total requirement, we have a policy and endeavour to hedge up to 25%,

but we are not able to do it because liquidity is not there in the market. Whatever we

have done is very, very small.

Pallav Agarwal: Okay, sir. And do we hedge the rupee, the Forex exposure also on this?

Seshagiri Rao: Forex exposure is separate policy as we have been communicating. We hedge

imports to the extent of exports by fully hedging both the legs separately, balance of

imports is hedged by way of options or by way of forwards which will impact the

revenue account.

Kamlesh Bagmar: Sir, one question on the realization part that you have mentioned, that you have

been able to offset the impact of fall in prices because of the higher or better mix.

Even in the past, we have seen that as and when HRC prices moves up, the gap

between the CR or like GPGI that also compresses. So would it be case like going

forward, we would be seeing the improvement in HR realizations, but that will not be

followed by the equivalent improvement in the CR and other value-added product

realization?

Jayant Acharya: Usually in the flat side, you will see if the hot rolled prices let's say go up now, it will

reflect on the downstream side maybe with a lag, but it does reflect on the

downside. So in this case also we expect the downstream prices like coated or cold

rolled products to react upwards with a lag once we increase the HR prices.

Kamlesh Bagmar: Okay. And sir, lastly, like in the cost part, we have not seen any fall in the cost, like

say, if you see cost, they have moved up significantly quarter-on-quarter, though

scale was lower, but we have seen the cut in the other expenses as well, significant

cut in other expenses, like say, we have mentioned that $18 was the fall in coking

coal prices, and earlier on Rs. 150 increase in the iron ore prices, but despite that, the

cost has gone up sir.

Seshagiri Rao: The cost has gone up majorly in the iron ore side and we have also seen increase in

the power cost side on per ton basis. There is an increase in ferroalloys cost also.

There are the three items where cost has increased. But you're correct that coking

coal prices have come down sequentially. However, that is more than offset by the

increase in other costs elements.



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Kamlesh Bagmar: Okay sir. But sir, going forward would we see significant fall in cost in like say Q2?

Seshagiri Rao: Coking coal, we already guided for $15/t reduction in the Q2. Similarly, on iron ore

side, a Rs. 200 per tonne which was reduced on 1st July, would flow through in this

quarter.

Moderator: Thank you. The next question is from the line of Nitin Agarwal from JM Financial.

Please go ahead.

Nitin Agarwal: Sir, can you throw some light on the Chile iron ore operations in terms of the

profitability? And second, are there any plans to restart our coking coal mines in the

US?

Seshagiri Rao: In the case of Chile, it is still under maintenance, it is very difficult to take a call to re-

start the mine considering volatility in iron prices from $46 to $75 per ton. Therefore,

we continue to maintain that mine. We have no plans in the immediate future to

start the mine. As regards to coking coal, yes, we will be starting the mine.

Nitin Agarwal: So right now, is the Chile mine giving any negative EBITDA contribution in terms of

the cost? Can you quantify?

Seshagiri Rao: Yes. It is in the range of maybe $100,000 per month.

Moderator: Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that was the last question. I now hand the

conference over to the management for their closing comments.

Seshagiri Rao: So, I just want to reiterate that we will able to achieve our guidance of 16.5 million

tonnes of production and 15.5 million tonnes of sales for the year. In 2q, there are

certain upsides, which will bring down our costs. And because of the monsoon, the

water levels have improved. Therefore, hopefully, we should be able to make for the

production, which we have lost in 1Q, in this quarter. The last point is, the overall

demand situation is improving both globally and also in India. And the domestic

prices at a discount compared to the landed cost of imports from China based on the

current FOB prices, giving a scope for improvement in domestic prices. So with that,

thank you very much.

Moderator: Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of Emkay Global Financial Services, that

concludes today's conference. Thank you for joining us. And you may now disconnect

your lines. Thank you.

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